Opened in 1929, the Coffee Pot restaurant was built on the tideflats in pieces and then bolted together on site--making it one of Tacoma's first pre-fabricated buildings. Renamed the Java Jive after being sold in 1955, it was added to the Tacoma Historic Register in 2003.
Printed on front: The Coffee Pot--On Pacific Highway half-way between Tacoma and So. Tacoma, Wash.
5 images. Coffee Pot Restaurant / Java Jive Otis G. Button, builder Bert Smyser, arch. & contr. -designed and built by local veterinarian Otis G. Button in 1929 as the Coffee Pot Restaurant -bldg. built in sections on the Tideflats then bolted together on location (one of Tacoma's first prefabricated commercial buildings) -Prescott Park Add. b3,1-3 -land purchased by Otis G. Button from real estate dealer Malcolm E. Gunston, 8/2/1929 (Deed Record No. 516, p.211) -briefly known as Geneva's Tavern c.1953 -purchased by Bob Radonich c.1955 -renamed the Java Jive by Bob Radonich's wife, Lylabell, after a song by the Ink Spots -also known as Bob's Java Jive -"Jungle Room"
TDL 11/23/1936 p.1 (robbery)
TNT 04/19/1940 p.18 Harold Elrod's Coffee Pot Restaurant re-opens tomorrow; adds dance hall; hobby horse racers will add to gaiety (il)
TNT 12/1/1945 p.2 Cafe robbed
TNT 6/25/1951 p.1 Yeggs loot safes here
TNT 7/22/1953 p.21 (ad for Geneva's Tavern)
TNT 4/4/1962 p.D2 Fireplace causes restaurant fire
TNT 7/22/1973 Area landmarks (sketch)
TNT 7/1/1977 Java-Jive a sort of historic inn
TNT 10/25/1982 MacGougan-at-large (short history of bldg.) The Crooner Nov. 1987 An adventure in Crosby-Land
TNT 11/10/1983 p.B14 Java Jive comes alive when Bobby Floyd plays (interior il)
TNT 10/4/1987 Roving photographer pursues "awesome" Americana
TNT 1/6/1989 p.1 A landmark up for sale, and that price is no jive ($1 million) (il)
TNT 5/18/1989 Rain too late for movie crew (scenes for the motion picture "I Love You to Death" filmed at bldg.)
TNT 12/25/1989 p.A8 Old 99 main route to memory land
TNT 12/16/1991 p.D1 "Roadside Attractions" (il)
TNT 4/24/1996 p.B2 Small fire damages, shuts down Java Jive
TNT 5/12/1996 p.SL1 Landscape in chains (il) T.Reporter 4/30/1998 p.6 I love the Java Jive and it loves me; the history and mystery behind the world's favorite coffee pot-shaped dive bar (il, interior il) T.City Paper 7/8/1999 p.5 Good life (artists Teddy Haggarty and Dan Richholt to paint mural on exterior wall)
TNT 7/29/1999 p.B1 Perking things up (il of bldg. being painted)
TNT 8/23/1999 p.SL1,SL3 Music goes live at the Java Jive; new paint job perks up look ... (il, interior il) T.Reporter 3/30/2000 p.24 Danger, Will Robinson (mention of rock group Nirvana / Kurt Cobain connection) (il) T.Reporter 9/6/2001 p.5 The Baarsma Boogie
TNT 9/18/2001 p.D1 A week of celebrating ...
TNT 7/8/2002 p.E7 "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" T.Daily Index 7/31/2002 p.1 Can world famous Bob's Java Jive be saved? "The Big Hoopla" this Friday meant to raise money for the financially troubled Tacoma landmark (il)
TNT 9/24/2002 p.A1 Owner poured life into cafe; Bob Radonich dies at age 83 (il)
TNT 9/25/2002 p.B6 The spirit of the Java Jive Seattle Weekly 10/30/2002 p.27 Unpackaged presence (il)
TNT 12/22/2002 p.D1 Watering holes (interior il) T.Reporter 5/22/2003 p.11 Massacre at the Pot (1st annual) (il)
TNT 5/28/2003 p.B1 Bob's bungalow leaving Java Jive for celibate life in Parkland
TNT 8/18/2003 p.B4 Public hearing
TNT 9/22/2003 p.B1 Java Jive's timelessness rewarded; City set to make offbeat tavern "historic place" (il) T.Weekly 10/2/2003 p.A3 More buildings placed on historic register
TNT 10/3/2003 p.D7 No jive, java pot makes history
TNT 1/2/2004 p.GO5 So-so singing is karaoke- dokey (interior il) T.Daily Index 5/24/2005 p.1 Landmarks Preservationi Commission announces 2005 Preservation Award winners
TNT 9/3/2006 p.B3 Fearless karaoke crooners
TNT 1/25/2007 p.A1 Bob's Java Jive forced to close; multiple building code violations threaten existence of Tacoma icon (il,interior il)
TNT 1/26/2007 p.A1 Friends work to get Java Jive back in business p.B1 The Nose: We like to think of it as deferred maintenance
TNT 1/27/2007 p.A1 Java Jive could open in a week
TNT 1/28/2007 p.B1 Java Jive to be world-class roadside attraction museum (humourous article)
TNT 2/1/2007 p.A1 The Jive's almost set to start jumpin' again (interior il)
TNT 2/2/2007 p.A14 No jive - back in business (interior il) T.Weekly 2/8/2007 p.A2 Community steps up to reopen historical building (interior il) Ranger 3/22/2007 Spend the night in a teapot; get a glimpse of the real Tacoma ... (il)
TNT 10/14/2007 p.E1 Hot cup of local lore - with cream and sugar (il)
TNT 3/14/2008 p.E1 Girl trouble (il) Ranger 5/1/2008 Good pot of music Ranger 6/25/2009 Picture Tacoma ... the art of the postcard (il)
TNT 7/20/2009 p.C1 Wish you were here (il of postcard by artists Doug & Lynn Mackey) T.Weekly 7/30/2009 Best dive bar (il)
TNT 12/9/2009 p.C1 Bob's Java Jive collapses! (the gingerbread version, that is) (il) T.Weekly 4/1/2010 p.C1 Keep the Jive alive! Benefit show ... (il) Ranger 4/8/2010 Fifty-five gritty years
TNT 9/23/2010 p.A1 Paint perks up Java Jive (il) T.Weekly 9/30/2010 p.A1 Java Jive gets a facelift (il) Ranger 1/30/2014 Return of Bob's Java Jive; Brandon Rowley on the strive to bring more great music to the Jive (il)
TNT 7/17/2014 p.A1 Owner's goal is to keep the Pot going at Bob's Java Jive; it just got on the national historic register (il,interior il)
TNT 04/12/2021 A5 Tacoma's Java Jive, closed for COVID-19 gets a big boost (ext. il) 388.10973 F6591W p.98 (il) 784.54 V567H p.24, 25 (club was an early venue of the rock group the Ventures) (il) 917.97 D294W p.156 (il) 917.9778 M177T p.25 (il) 979.7788 G1351V p.112 (il) 979.7788 R278S p.86, 121 (il,interior il)